GOP makes gains in Massachusetts House

Republican ranks in the Massachusetts House will double in January, giving the GOP its first legislative gains since 1990, but their already-tiny presence in the Senate will shrink with the election of Democratic Rep. Katherine Clark to succeed Minority Leader Richard Tisei.

Republican ranks in the Massachusetts House will double in January, giving the GOP its first legislative gains since 1990, but their already-tiny presence in the Senate will shrink with the election of Democratic Rep. Katherine Clark to succeed Minority Leader Richard Tisei.

The GOP House gains were the only bright spot for Bay State Republicans, who watched as Republicans in other states surged to victory while Democrats here swept statewide and Congressional seats.

“It’s going to be hard to reconcile how all the momentum we had going into this didn’t result in an electoral victory at the top of the ticket,” Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) told the News Service on Tuesday night.

One of the day’s closest races involved Senate President Therese Murray, who edged Republican Tom Keyes of Sandwich in the toughest challenge she faced since joining the Senate in 1993. Murray bested Keyes by about 3,500 votes in a 52-48 percent victory. No incumbent senators lost, and few faced close challenges.

Several others, including Geraldo Alicea (D-Charlton), Rosemary Sandlin (D-Agawam) and Danielle Gregoire (D-Marlborough) were still locked in tight races hours after the polls closed, in some cases trailing by handfuls or hundreds of votes. Results in Alicea’s race showed him trailing Republican challenger Peter Durant by two votes. Sandlin’s challenger, Republican Nick Boldyga, and Gregoire’s challenger, Republican Steven Levy, have declared victory in their races, according to local reports.

Republicans captured three seats held by outgoing Democrats: David Flynn of Bridgewater, who is retiring; Barry Finegold of Andover, who won election to the state Senate, and William Greene of Billerica, who is also leaving the Legislature. A fourth seat held by Robert Rice appeared destined for the Republican column as well, although the votes hadn’t all been recorded by Wednesday morning.

House Republicans, who held five of their own open seats that incumbents opted to give up and retained all of their incumbents, will see their ranks grow to at least 27 in January.

“Maybe that will inspire some Democratic members to say ‘instead of marching in lock-step, maybe we need to be a little more independent,’” House Minority Leader Bradley Jones told the News Service.

Jones said he was disappointed that Republican Charles Baker had failed to win the governorship — Jones and members of his staff were frequently on the trail stumping for Baker — but said the House victories could help form a bloc with centrist or conservative Democrats to push back on Democratic leadership.

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Jones added that House Republicans often serve as a farm team for higher office, pointing to Republican senators — Bruce Tarr, Michael Knapik, Richard Ross and Tisei — who started out as House members.

Massachusetts Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Nassour described Republican gains in the House as “massive” and said their victory “changes the complexion of the Massachusetts Legislature.”

“I thought that we had the best crew of candidates that we had in 20 years, and with the party losing for 18 years straight, just to have one is great,” she said. “It helps because I think that there are some more conservative members that are Democrats that will now vote with our Republicans. It also brings in new, fresh blood and a breath of fresh air in there.”

Tarr, who spoke to the News Service before Senate results were in, said the GOP gains in the House “means we’ll have a stronger debate and we’ll have moved incrementally closer to two-party government on Beacon Hill.”

“We’re clearly a long way from that result, but for those of us who argued in its necessity for many years, we can take some solace in the fact that voters in some parts of the state agreed with us,” he said.

Democrats’ victory in the Senate, however, weakens an already minuscule minority that has struggled to weigh in on crucial legislation or force the majority to take roll call votes. With just four members — Sens. Tarr, Knapik, Ross and Robert Hedlund of Weymouth — Senate Republicans will have to shoulder an already near-impossible load of committee assignments, and all four will need to be present during sessions to force recorded votes.

Tarr confirmed to the News Service on Tuesday that he intends to run for Senate minority leader.

House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Murphy, of Burlington, shrugged off the tide of losses in the House, telling the News Service his prediction about a good night for Democrats had come true.

“We knew going into this we had a number of challenging races. It was a difficult environment locally and nationally, but the blueness of Massachusetts was confirmed,” Murphy said.

Asked if the Republican gains in the House would change the way Democratic leadership interacts with the minority party, Murphy said he would treat his Republican colleagues the same as he always has.

“I would suggest we work well with the minority party, and we will continue to work well with them,” Murphy said. He said he did not consider the loss of seats a repudiation of any of the specific decisions or policies voted for in the House over the past two years, but rather a “reflection of the times.”

Murphy added that he was disappointed by the ouster of Rep. L’Italien, who served as Murphy’s vice chairwoman on the Ways and Means Committee

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“Barbara and I worked well together and we knew going in she had a tough race, but I thought she was going to win. I feel awful for her,” Murphy said.

Arline Isaacson, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, said that despite Gov. Patrick’s victory and the Democrat’s success in holding all 10 of the state’s Congressional race, losses in the House for some of the chamber’s more progressive members were “devastating” for the gay and lesbian community.

“Some of the most progressive legislators in tough races lost. It’s a huge setback for the gay community to lose so many committed stalwarts. It’s a little frightening,” Isaacson said.

Isaacson included Reps. L’Italien, Patrick, Falzone, D’Amico, McCarthy and Kujawski among those she considered critical losses for gay rights advocates.